Pneumatic tire.



L. B. KRUM.

PNEUMmc TIRE. A APPLICATION FILED SE'PT. 13, 1907.

952,675, v Patented Mar.22, 1910.

2 SHEETS-'SHEET 1.

w1/f A L. B. KRUM'.

PNHUMATIC TIRE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1a, 19o?.

Patented Mar.22,191o.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Louis n. Kama, or cursado; rumors.

rnnuma'rio TIRE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Fate-ated Mar. 2 2', 1910..

Application filed-September: 18, 190?. Serial No. 392,650.-

To all whom it may concern:

` Be it known that 1*, LoUlsB'. KRUM, a citizen of the United States,and a resident .of Chica o, Cook county, Illinois, have invente certainnew and useful Improve` mentsv in Pneumatic Tires; and do hereby declarethat the following is a, full', clear, and: exact description of thesame, reference being had' to the accompanying drawings, and; to theletters ofreference marked thencon, which form a part of thisspecification.

Heretofore many devices have been constructed to reventpuncture andconsequent deflation oi) pneumatic tires. `These have consisted usuallyof metallic sections either incorporated inthe tire` casing or securedthereon and frequently instead of reventing uncture are the causethereof; one of the vices heretofore put upon the market have beenof'such a nature astoinsure protection against deflation ofthe tire andin consequence of thefrequent repairs and large expense occasioned Ifor'newyinner tubes for pneumatic tires, the use of such tiresv has beenavoided wherever possible.

The object of this invention is to4 provide a 'construction adapted foruse with outer casings of any suitable kind whereby a neumati'c tirepractically uncture proof, 1s provided, .and the use oi3 which enables'pressure to. be restored to the tire without removal from the wheel,even though the tire should be unctured in several places.

It is a urther object of myinvention to afford an exceedingly jcheap,durable and economical construction whereby should any ortion of theinterior intlating means be injured or destroyed, renewal may be electedat slight expense thereby avoiding the necessity of renewing all theinflating means for the tire as in the case where inner tubes are used.v

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described and morefully pointed out and defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a face view of an automobile Wheel providedwith a tire embodying my invention, the outer casing of which 1s invertical section, the tirebeing shown deflated. Fig. 2 is a similar viewshowing the tire inflated. Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse section ofthe casing show` in one form of universal rim. Fig. 4 is an en argedface View of one of the iniatin sections of the tire. Fig. 5 is anenlarge section of one of the balls embodied in my invention. Fig. 6 isa similar view showin a slight modificationv in the form of the bal y Asshown. in the drawings: A indicates as a whole an automobile Wheel, onthe rim a of which is engaged a pneumatic tire casing B which may e aolencher casing as shown in Fig. 3 or any other suitableconstruction andwhich is enga ed' to the rim a which may be of any km asis usual for theparticular class of casing used. Within saidcasing, as shown in- Figs. 1and 2, are a' plurality of inflatable elements C comprising'a hollowmember having relatively ilatand stiii end members o convenientlycirculafin form and adapted to ii't in the tirecasi'n' and connected asshown to. a central 'stitigi ened' ring of rubber or other suitable material' c by means of. liexible vwallsfc.fwhiohI when said section isiniated, permit said walls c to lmove oppositely to a suitable dis#tance fromeach other and when' deated, permit said" wallsto closeinwardly upon the lcentral ring c as shown in dotted llnes in Fig. 4,.Each of" Said? inflatable sections is provided with an air valve c, suchas have heretofore been used for inatlng the inner tubes' for pneumatictires. As shown, a plurality of said inflatable sections are used, thenumber, of course, varyin with the size of the wheel, the rassure. to emaintained in the casing, an other conditions including, of conrse,.thepreference of the user.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and '4, such`iniatable members are inserted'inthecasing'at equal distances apart with the therefor projecting radiallyinward through the rim of the wheel as is usual. Arranged between eachpair of iniatable sections-are 'a plurality of resilient balls C whichmay be constructed in, any suitable manner to render the same gas tightand are filled withr a suitable gas to maintain a considerable pressure.`Said balls in diameter conform approximately with the interior diameterof the casing, and may, if desired, be covered with fabric o* of anysuitable kind to increase the strength thereof, 'but usually may be madeof a good quality of rubber or other .resilient material adapted tocontain a gas.

They may of course, be either spherical, as shown in Fig. 5, or oval asthe ball "C2 indicated in Fig. 6, and in any event are preferably ofsuch size as not only to 'iill the inner air valve circumference of thecasing, but* also to per# sti end walls, an air valve pressure, therebypressing the somewhatrigid end sections cr-walls c oppositely and aroundthe interior of the caslng, as shown in Fig. 2, compressing the ballstherein to approximately lill the tire casing, the pressure of course,being graduated to the service required. 'It is to be noted that saidballs when said inflatable sections are fully inflated, are therebypressed inwardly from opposite sides, in. consequence forcing the sameoutwardly at the periphery until a continuous cellular constructionentirely fills the casing and before the limit of expansibility of theinflatable members is reached. Should a puncture now occuf in anysection, lbut one ball can be affected and that being the oase, but avery small quantity of air is' permitted to escape, the remaining ballsand inflatable sections immediately adjusting themselves to take up thespace formerly voccupied. by the air inside the punctured ball,retaining practically a uniform pressure on the casing.

Of course, I am aware that many details of construction may be variedwithout departing from the principles of my invention, and I thereforedo not purpose 1imit-l ing this application for' patent otherwise thannecessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

l. The combination with a pneumatic tire casing of inflatable memberstherein having in each and a plurality of hollow balls containing fluidthe place inserted.

3. The combination with a pneumatic tire casing of short inflatablemembers therein, an air valve for infiating each of said members and aplurality of gas filled balls between said inflatable members filling sthe casing and adapted to be compressed by the inflation of saidmembers. ,t

4. In combination with a tire casing, a plurality of independentlyremovable" elements tted' therein adapted to be expanded independentlyand each to the same or difA ferent extent, members between saidelements adapted to be compressed by expansion of said elements andstrengthening cov erings for said members.

5. In a device of the class described a casing, balls therein andelements at suitable intervals apart in the casing between the ballseach comprising a central ring, flexible material secured thereto,stiff' walls secured to the flexible material and a valve for infiatingthe same.-

6. A pneumatic tire comprising a casing, a single layer of inflatedballs therein, each ballgfilling the entire width of the casing and flatinflatable members in the casing between the balls. l

In testimony whereof I have hereunto. subscribed my name in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

LOUIS B. KRUM.

.I Witnesses:

C. W. HILLS, J. W. ANGELL.

